Shot in the head during the Las Vegas mass shooting, Ontario officer Michael Gracia returns to work

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Ontario police officer Michael Gracia, who was shot in the head during the mass shooting in Las Vegas last October, returned to light duty with the department this week, after months of rehab.
(Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

One year after being shot in the head at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas, Officer Michael Gracia has returned to work at the Ontario Police Department.

“I told myself … I was going to be back in a year, whether that was at the desk or on the streets,” he said. “But I wanted to get back in a year at work, living a normal life. Because going through therapy at the hospital, seeing doctors, it sucks. It’s not normal. I wanted to be back at work, working, supporting my family.”

Ontario police officer Michael Gracia, who was shot in the head during the mass shooting in Las Vegas last October, walks the halls of the department in Ontario on Thursday, September 27, 2018. The officer returned to light duty with the department this week after months of rehabilitation.
(Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Ontario police officer Michael Gracia, left, who was shot in the head during the mass shooting in Las Vegas last October, works the front desk at the department in Ontario on Thursday, September 27, 2018. The officer returned to light duty with the department this week after months of rehabilitation.
(Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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Ontario police officer Michael Gracia, who was shot in the head during the mass shooting in Las Vegas last October, returned to light duty with the department this week, after months of rehab.
(Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Ontario police officer Michael Gracia, who was shot in the head during the mass shooting in Las Vegas last October, works the front desk at the department in Ontario on Thursday, September 27, 2018. The officer returned to light duty with the department this week after months of rehabilitation.
(Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Michael Gracia holds his 4-month-old daughter, Vayda, while recovering from injuries he suffered during the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting on Oct. 1 in Las Vegas. Gracia, an Ontario police officer, and Summer Clyburn, the baby’s mother, were among the more than 500 people injured that night. (Photo courtesy of the Gracia family)

Summer Clyburn, Michael Gracia and their 4-month-old daughter Vayda are putting their lives back together after Summer and Michael were among the more than 500 people injured during the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting in Las Vegas four weeks ago. (Photo courtesy of the Gracia family)

Police guard along the streets outside the the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after a active shooter was reported on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)

Drapes billow out of a broken window at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, on the Las Vegas Strip following a deadly shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas. A gunman was found dead inside a hotel room. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)

Adrian Hanebrink, 42, of the Riverside area, gets emotional as she recalls being in the middle of a mass shooting that occurred at the Route 91 Harvest Festival across the street from the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas on Monday, Oct. 2.
Photo by Rachel Luna, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG

Police tape blocks off the home of Stephen Craig Paddock on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Mesquite, Nev. Paddock killed dozens and injured hundreds on Sunday night when he opened fire at an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas. Heavily armed police searched Paddock’s home Monday. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

A sign asking for prayers is displayed at the MGM hotel on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, in Las Vegas. A gunman opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Roberto Lopez, from left, Briana Calderon and Cynthia Olvera, of Las Vegas, pause at a memorial site on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017 in Las Vegas. Investigators trying to figure out why Stephen Paddock gunned down dozens of people from his high-rise hotel suite are analyzing his computer and cellphone, looking at casino surveillance footage and seeking to interview his longtime girlfriend. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Big Frog of Southern Las Vegas owner Lisa Hughes, left, and Robyn Brewington speak about giving out free #VegasStrong shirts to those who want to show their support to the community and the victims of the Oct. 1 Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting at their store’s location in Las Vegas, Nev. on Tuesday, Oct 3, 2017. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange Register/SCNG)

Florida residents Amanda Singletry, 34, and her daughter Amelia Singletry, 5, light candles to pay tribute to the victims in the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting at a makeshift memorial on a median strip between Las Vegas Boulevard and Reno Avenue in Las Vegas, Nev. on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017. At least 59 people were killed and more than 500 injured when a gunman opened heavy fire on them during the country music festival on Oct. 1. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange Country Register/SCNG)

Tourists and locals pay tribute to the victims in Sunday’s mass shooting at a makeshift memorial on a median strip between Las Vegas Boulevard and Reno Avenue in Las Vegas, Nev. on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017. At least 59 people were killed and more than 500 hurt when a gunman opened heavy fire on them during the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 1. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange Country Register/SCNG)

Tourists and locals pay their respects at a Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting memorial site in Las Vegas, Nev. on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017. A gunman in the Mandalay Bay Resort opened heavy fire on a crowd of more than 22,000 across the street at the music festival, killing at least 59 people and injuring more than 500, which has become the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A makeshift memorial grows in Las Vegas, Nev. on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017. A gunman in the Mandalay Bay Resort opened heavy fire on a crowd of more than 22,000 across the street at the music festival, killing at least 59 people and injuring more than 500, which has become the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)

People pay their respects to the Las Vegas mass shooting victims, who include Victor Link of Aliso Viejo, at makeshift memorial in front of the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nev. on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)

People pay their respects to the Las Vegas mass shooting victims at makeshift in front of the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nev. on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. On Oct. 1, 58 people were killed and more than 500 injured when a gunman on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort opened heavy fire on them during the Route 91 Harvest country music festival held across the street at the Las Vegas Village outdoor concert venue. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Las Vegas mass shooting victim Karen Smerber, 47, of Beaumont, and her husband 55-year-old Mathew Smerber, a reired SBCFD captain, speak about the shooting as she recovers from her gunshot wound in the torso at Spring Valley Hospital in Las Vegas, Nev. on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017. A gunman on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay opened heavy fire on a crowd of more than 22,000 at Route 91 Harvest outdoor country music festival, which killed 58 people and injured more than 500 people on Oct. 1. (Photo by Rachel Luna, OC Register/SCNG)

Family and friends mourn the loss of Las Vegas shooting victim Rocio Rocha Guillen, 40, during candlelight vigil at Roosevelt High School Thursday in Eastvale on October 5, 2017.
(Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

A couple embraces and cries at the memorial, where crosses honoring the Route 91 Harvest festival victims are placed next to the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign site in Las Vegas, Nev. on Oct. 6, 2017. The crosses were brought by Greg Zanis, of Illinois, to honor the 58 Las Vegas shooting victims. (Photo by Rachel Luna, OC Register/SCNG)

He and his fiancée, Summer Clyburn, were among the 851 people injured when a gunman opened fire at the music festival Oct. 1, 2017, from a room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the far side of the Las Vegas strip. Fifty-eight people died in the worst mass shooting in modern American history.

After Gracia went down, Clyburn threw herself on his body to shield him, and was shot in the back as a result.

“It was pretty amazing,” he said. Gracia otherwise prefers not to talk about the night he was shot.

The subsequent 12 months have been difficult for him, but throughout his physical rehabilitation and speech therapy, Gracia said he never had any doubts about returning to a career where criminals with guns are common.

“It’s what I love doing. Since I was a little kid, my dad has always been in uniform,” he said.

Gracia’s father was a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“Growing up, he always inspired me and I’ve been motivated by him. When I was 16, I joined the Explorer program, and from there on out, I was working toward that goal of wearing the badge. I love doing it. It’s always what I wanted to do.”

Prior to being shot in Las Vegas, Gracia spent four years as an Ontario police officer. Getting back to work Sept. 24 wasn’t easy.

“A lot of work and stress and emotions and frustration and determination to get back here,” said Gracia, who’s currently working the front desk at headquarters. “I’ve been on a long road and I still have a long road ahead of me. So I just keep looking at the progression of where I’ve started from and just hoping to continue to get better and talk better.”

When Gracia first woke up from his coma in a Las Vegas hospital after the shooting, he was initially unable to speak. Fifty weeks later, his memory and speech are still affected.

Ontario police officer Michael Gracia, who was shot in the head during the mass shooting in Las Vegas last October, works the front desk at the department in Ontario on Thursday, September 27, 2018. The officer returned to light duty with the department this week after months of rehabilitation.<br />(Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Physically, he’s in good shape, he said. He’s back to running and exercising to deal with his stress.

“I’m a little weaker on my right side, but I’m lucky enough to not be paralyzed.”

Gracia hopes to eventually make a full recovery and return to the streets as a patrol officer.

“Who knows where I’ll be in a year or two?”

Police Chief Derek Williams is glad Gracia is back.

“Officer Gracia is part of the Ontario Police Department family, and serves as an inspiration to all his brothers and sisters in blue. As a department, we welcome him back to the force and look forward to seeing him progress each day.”

For her part, Clyburn has recovered, and now works part time as a dispatcher in Glendora, and takes care of the couple’s 15-month old daughter. Clyburn has a scar on her upper back and shoulder, but has full use of her arm, Gracia said. The two plan to get married in May 2019.

When their daughter gets older, Gracia knows she will ask questions about the scar that runs along the left side of her father’s head, giving him a permanent part.

He knows what he’s going to tell her when that time comes.

“You’re going to come across those bad moments in life, but there’s more good in the world than there is bad,” he said.

Since being shot, Gracia has seen more of that goodness.

“All of the time, I get people thanking me and saying they’re glad I’m OK,” he said.

“On the job, we see the worst of the worst and we deal with the worst of the worst,” Gracia said. “So having this happen, I see a lot more of the good in the community. And there is a lot more good than there is bad. It just happens that, wearing the uniform, we see the bad.”

Getting shot hasn’t stopped Gracia and Clyburn from doing what they love to do. The pair saw Jason Aldean — who was on stage when the shooting began last year in Las Vegas — perform at Glen Helen Amphitheatre in Devore on Sept. 22.

“It’s not keeping me from doing anything or making me be afraid of anything,” Gracia said. “I still have my life to live and I have a long time to enjoy that stuff.”

But on the anniversary of the shooting on Monday night, the couple will be staying in.

“We’re going to have a private family party to just celebrate being here,” Gracia said.

And on Tuesday, Gracia expects to be right back where he wants to be, working as an Ontario police officer and preparing for the day he can return to the streets.

“It’s hard at times, but I live by my faith in God,” Gracia said. “Everything happens for a reason. I don’t know what that is. Hopefully, one day I’ll find out, but I live my faith.”

Beau Yarbrough wrote his first newspaper article taking on an authority figure (his middle school principal) when he was in 7th grade. He’s been a professional journalist since 1992, working in Virginia, Egypt and California. In that time, he’s covered community news, features, politics, local government, education, the comic book industry and more. He’s covered the war in Bosnia, interviewed presidential candidates, written theatrical reviews, attended a seance, ridden in a blimp and interviewed both Batman and Wonder Woman (Adam West and Lynda Carter). He also cooks a mean pot of chili.